Lasting machine



w, .A. BARTON May 2, 1939..

LASTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 3 1937 Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LASTING MACHINE Application November 3, 1937, Serial No. 172,576 In Great Britain December 8, 1936 10 Claims.

This invention relates to lasting machines of the type in which a single pincer operates to work successive portions of the upper over the last bottom, each successive portion of the overlasted upper being secured to the insole by a driven fastening, and particularly to a sole rest for such machines.

The present invention is illustrated as embodied in a machine of the type disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 584,744, granted June. 15, 1897, upon application of Ladd and McFeely. In this type of machine the shoe is held in the hands of the operator against a sole rest which determines the heightwise position of the shoe and against an edge rest which determines its lateral location. After the gripper tensions a portion of the upper, a wiper moves horizontally over the shoe bottom to wipe the upper against the insole and a tack is driven to hold the upper in lasted position. The height of the sole rest with respect to the plane of the wiper, therefore, determines the plane of the shoe bottom, and in certain classes of work it is desirable to change the heightwise position of the-sole rest during operation of the machine in order that the shoe may be presented at the proper angle to receive the wiping action of the wiper. For example, when an insole is used which is of even thickness at the iorepart but has the central portion of 30, its shank thicker than the marginal portions, as when a shank stiffener is incorporated into the insole, the position of the sole rest which is proper for the forepart of the shoe is too low for proper presentation of the shoe when the rest engages 35, the thickened portion of the insole in lasting the shank. Also, where the upper, for example at the toe, is thicker than it is at other portions of the shoe, the sole rest should occupy a lower position than where the upper is thinner. 40 Objects of this invention are to provide an improved sole rest which is capable of quick adjustment to meet the conditions above indicated:

The invention comprises a sole rest arranged for heightwise movement between two predetermined 45 positions, in combination with means by which one or both of said positions may be varied. In the embodiment herein illustrated, the sole rest is carried by a vertical slide which is held upwardly by spring means against a movable stop 50 consisting of an arm which may be swung by a hand lever against either of two limiting stops, illustrated as screws. The axis of the arm is nearer one of the limiting stops than the other so that when the arm is against the nearer stop 55 the rest will be in its lower position and when the arm is against the more distant stop the rest will be in its higher position.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 illustrates, in elevation, the operating instrumentalities of a lasting machine equipped '5 with the sole rest of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1.

The operating instrumentalities of the machine, as more fully disclosed in the patent re- 10 ferred to above, include a gripper ill which seizes successive portions of the upper and draws them upwardly and inwardly over the shoe bottom, a horizontally reciprocating combined tack block and wiper l2 which acts to wipe the tensioned up- 15 per against the bottom of the insole, and a tack driver M which acts to drive the tack presented by the tack block l2 when it has reached the limit of its inward movement over the shoe bottom. Forwardly projecting from the frame of the ma- 20 chine is an arm IS in which is a vertical dovetailed guideway l8 for a slide 20. At one side of the guideway I8 a gib 22 which may be adjusted by screws 24 is provided to fit the guideway to the slide 2!] and to take up wear. A tongue 26 on 25 the side of the slide 20 is received by a corresponding groove in a support 28, the support being adjustably held to the slide 29 by a screw 30 which occupies a vertical slot 3| in the slide 20. By loosening the screw the support 28 may be 30 adjusted up and down with respect to the slide 20.

Secured to the lower end of the support 28 by means of a screw 32 is a sole rest 34 the left-hand end of which, as shown, engages the insole A of a shoe upon a last B the upper C of which is being 35 pulled by the gripper It], the shoe being held against an edge rest 36 above which the wiper I2 is about to move inwardly over the shoe bottom. As shown, the insole A is composed of two layers between which is a steel shank stiffener D 40 which, of course, thickens the central portion of the shank of the insole relatively to the marginal portions and, in order to present the shoe properly to the lasting instrumentalities, the sole rest 34 needs to be adjusted higher when operating on the shank portion of the shoe (as shown in full lines in Fig. 1) than when operating upon the forepart of the shoe where not only the stiifener D but also the outer layer A are omitted, leaving only the inner layer E, in which case the rest 34 should occupy the position shown in dotand-dash lines. Thus, under the conditions illustrated, the rest 34 needs to be presented in two predetermined height-wise positions. To accomplish this the following construction is provided. 56

The lower end of the slide 20 is bored to receive compression springs 38 the lower ends of which rest on a plate 40 secured by screws 42 to the lower face of the bracket IS. The springs 38 hold the slide 20 in engagement with a roll 44 carried by an arm 46 pivoted on a shaft 48 journaled in the bracket l6, the shaft having a handle 50 by which the shaft 48 may be rocked to move the arm 46 from the position shown, where the roll 44 carried by the arm is in contact with a limiting stop 52, to a position in which the arm 46 or roll 44 is in contact with a limiting stop 54. The limiting stops 52, 54 are both adjustable, being shown as screws threaded through ears 56 on the bracket l6 and provided with set nuts 58 to hold them in adjusted position.

It will be noted that a vertical plane passing through the axis of the shaft 48 is nearer tothe stop 54 than it is to the stop 52. Hence, when the arm 45 is moved from contact with the stop 52 into contact with the stop 54, it is in a position more nearly vertical and therefore holds the slide 2% and hence the sole rest :34 depressed to a greater degree (see dotted lines in Fig. 1) than when it is in a more inclined position in contact with the stop 52, the sole rest .34 being then in the position shown in full lines. By adjusting the screws forming the limiting stops 52, 54, either or both of the predetermined positions of the sole rest may be varied. When the arm 45 is in either of its two positions it is sufiiciently inclined to the direction of movement of the slide 28 so that the springs 38 tend to hold it in that position. It will be seen that the lever 50 may be readily operated by one hand of the operator during the operation of the machine or when it is at rest to change the location of the tread rest 36 and that, as the arm 4-6 is being turned from one position to the other, it will tend to snap against the stop toward which it is being moved.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a lasting machine of the single gripper progressive type, a sole rest arranged to be moved into either of two predetermined heightwise positions, and means for varying both of said positions each independently of the other.

2. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a sole rest arranged to be raised and lowered between predetermined positions, means for raising and lowering the rest, and adjustable stops, one determining the upper position and the other determining the lower position of the rest.

3. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a sole rest arranged to be raised and lowered, a spring for raising the rest, manually operated means for lowering the rest, and two adjustable stops, one determining the raised position and the other the lowered position of the rest.

4. In a lasting machine of the single gripper progressive type, a sole rest for engaging the shoe bottom, a vertical slide carrying the rest..a spring tending to raise the slide, and two adjustable stops, one acting to prevent upward movement of the slide in one heightwise position and the other acting to prevent upward movement of the slide in a difierent heightwise position.

5. A sole rest for lasting machines comprising a member for engaging the shoe bottom, a vertically movable slide carrying said member, spring means tending to raise the slide, an arm engaging the top of the slide, and means for rocking the arm to move the slide and position the sole-engaging member at different heights.

6. A sole rest for lasting machines having operating instrumentalities for progressively working an upper over the bottom of a last comprising a slide carrying said sole rest, means tending to raise the rest, rocking means for depressing the rest, a stop for limiting the movement of the rocking means, and means for adjusting the stop to vary the depressed position of the sole rest.

7. A sole rest for lasting machines comprising a member for engaging the shoe bottom, a vertically movable slide carrying said member, spring means tending to raise the slide, an arm movable in a vertical plane and engaging the top .of the slide, means for rocking the arm to move the slide and position the sole-engaging member at difierent heights, and a limiting stop at each side of the arm to arrest swinging movement of the arm in either direction.

8. In a machine having operating instrumentalities for progressively working an upper over a last, a sole rest for locating the shoe heightwise With respect to said operating instrumentalities, a vertically movable slide carrying said rest, spring means for raising the slide, a roll-carrying arm engaging the top of the slide, a horizontal rockshaft carrying said arm, means for rocking the shaft to cause the arm to assume difierent inclinations to the vertical, a stop for arresting the arm when inclined at a predetermined angle to the vertical, and another stop for arresting the arm when swung to assume a different angle to the vertical.

9. In a machine having operating instrumentalities for progressively working an upper overa last, a sole rest for locating the shoe heightwise with respect to said operating instrumentalities, a vertically movable slide carrying said rest, spring means for raising the slide, a roll-carrying ,arm engaging the top of the slide, a horizontal rockshaft carrying said arm, means for rocking the shaft, and a stop at each side of the arm for arresting the movement of the arm,a vertical plane passing through the axis of the shaftbeing nearer one of the stops than the other so that when the arm isagainst the nearer stop the arm is inclined at a lesser angle tosaid plane and locates the rest in its lower position and when the arm is against the other stop the arm is inclined at ,a greater angle to said plane and locates the rest :in its higher position.

10. A machine according to claim 9 in which each of the stops is arranged ;for adjustment toward and from the arm.

WILLIAM ARTHUR BARTON. 

